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Thread: Same Game Drive, A Little Later - Aardvark!

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Default Same Game Drive, A Little Later - Aardvark!

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    This was taken a little later on the same game drive as the Pangolin image I posted the other day. We had spent several days trying to find aardvark, another species seen more often at Tswalu in the winter months. However, they have lost a significant amount of their population due to the drought and it is no longer as easy. We always seemed to be somewhere else when someone spotted one. Well, on my last evening game drive (I stayed 4 nights) while we were with the pangolin, one of the other guides saw an aardvark cross the road and head into a burrow. We quickly went and my guide and I decided to sit about 50 yards downwind from the burrow and wait. We sat for over 30 minutes with nothing happening and losing the light. My guide decided we should check the various burrows, still giving the one we thought it entered a wide berth. As we were doing so, the tracker whistled and I saw this aardvark heading our way. The aardvark moved quickly, constantly zigging and zagging through the brush as we followed on foot for about a kilometer in the last rays of sunlight but still keeping our distance so as not to disturb it. As with the pangolin, getting images clear of any grasses was almost impossible. Additionally, with it going in and out of the light, I had to change settings on the fly. In hindsight, I might have been better off shooting in AV instead of fully manual but I kept it fully manual.

    Incidentally, my guide at Tswalu, Lance Van de Vyver, has an amazing shot of lions playing with a pangolin in the recently announced images honored by the BBC this year.

    Canon 5D3
    100-400 II @ 400mm
    1/350
    f5.6
    ISO 1600
    HH on foot, cropped for comp (about 70-80% of ff), dropped exp in pp, levels, curves, TK luminosity mask, reduced the yellows, selective burning, selectively sharpened in CCPS.

    C&C welcome and appreciated. Thanks,

    Rachel

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    Hi Rachel -- This is so much fun to see the different species that you have managed to capture on your camera from your recent trip .

    This is another lovely image specially the colour of the light and the subject itself . I dont mind the busy settings at all as the scene is very beautiful and showcases the environment in which they survive. I find that front leg with bright highlights a bit distracting, actually it is somewhat catching my eyes a bit too much .

    TFS !

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    WOW...I believe that Aardvark sightings there are amazing. Amazing light and I like the inclusion of the surroundings. Front ears and leg look hot on my screen. Not sure how much they are clipped and if they can be saved.

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Thanks Haseeb and Dumay. They are just short of being blown on my set-up though I have selectively toned down the front leg before posting. I should have dropped the exposure in the field slightly by upping the ss here. They thought this particular aardvark may have had some kind of condition because its skin looked a little funny and it stopped to scratch at one point.

    Thanks again,
    Rachel

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    Lifetime Member Marc Mol's Avatar
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    Wow Rachel, you certainly were well and truly blessed on this day, to have 1 of these in a day OR a week is special enough!

    A nice foraging pose and inclusion of habitat.

    Agree with Dumay on the hot whites, and for mine would reduce the yellow's further, granted this is late afternoon and you were there.

    TFS


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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Thanks Marc. We posted at the same time. Yes, I keep looking at the yellows and may do a version with it reduced even more.

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Here's a rp with the yellows further reduced.

    Thanks again,
    Rachel

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Rachel, another very cool sighting and I'm very pleased you got to see what you have done.

    Great you got a clear head /body shot illustrating those lovely ears and wonderful snout. I think you were fortunate to get this on foot rather than from a vehicle, as for me, it provided a far better angle/POV.

    With the subject on the move I do feel you needed more SS, easily done with the 5D. I agree on the above observations and therefore I feel you were on the cusp of blowing your highlights and in turn has been highlighted through some of the PP workflow. I'm fairly sure there is minimal data in the inside front leg, ditto in the ear, hence the strong highlight, dropping a third or two thirds may have helped and you could easily address anything later in PP.

    The RP I think is certainly an improvement and has provided a more 'softer' light to the overall look & feel, but with some carful curves adjustment I think you can get some more detail/depth within the actual subject. I might have considered double processing this.

    BTW have you added saturation to the image?

    TFS
    Steve

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    What a sighting, I've only ever seen one on the roadside at night going from Kgalagadi to Upington.
    Nice light and side-on here, Rachel. Repost takes care of the hot whites.

    I saw Lance's photo, and my jaw dropped
    Morkel Erasmus

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Thanks Steve and Morkel for the comments and suggestions. I prefer the rp too. Steve - no sat other than my usual default of 3 or 4 points in ACR. The light was particularly warm and it was difficult setting the wb in pp as there is no mid-grey in the image at all.

    Thanks again,
    Rachel

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    Congrats on getting this Rachel. What an amazing looking creature! Nice habitat and pose of the animal. The RP does look better.

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    The light was particularly warm and it was difficult setting the wb in pp as there is no mid-grey in the image at all.
    Pop it over i'll find it.

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    The RP is a great improvement. still thinks the whites are too far gone to saved. I love the flies around the Aardvark!

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    Quote Originally Posted by Rachel Hollander View Post
    Thanks Steve and Morkel for the comments and suggestions. I prefer the rp too. Steve - no sat other than my usual default of 3 or 4 points in ACR. The light was particularly warm and it was difficult setting the wb in pp as there is no mid-grey in the image at all.

    Thanks again,
    Rachel
    the richness of reds and light are consistent with my experience in the Kalahari as well Rachel :)
    Morkel Erasmus

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    Well Rachel, having seen the RAW, you know my thoughts and my original observations about the file & exposure etc, were correct. However as we have discussed we will all see it differently.

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    I like the RP much better, too. Always difficult to choose a shooting mode. Congrats on the find and getting a good capture as well.

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    Very nice sighting and image Rachel...the repost works best for me too...must have been a wonderful experience to see this one!!!

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    Thanks John and Andrew.

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    Only found this now....

    I like it. Kalahari golden light it tough to contain! I always felt a lot of my images from there looked overly saturated straight out of camera. In saying that I like the original better than the desaturated, although it may be because I was there and know how good the light was :D

    I would have composed with him slightly more to the left.....but thats just me, I love space for the animals to move into.

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    Thanks Lance for the comments and your patience in the field.

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